The Royal Peanut Gallery
by wolfhunter777
Summary: Sometimes, Noctis wishes that his crownsguards come with a mute button.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy.

It was a beautiful day. White fluffy clouds dotted the sky, drifting along the blue canvas. The cool breeze ruffled Noctis's hair as it blew by. He could hear the sound of the ocean, slowly lulling him back to sleep.

On a normal day, Noctis would have surrendered to the gentle noise and slept until the afternoon. But not today. Today, he is a man on a mission. Today, he will catch the elusive 'Devil of the Cygillan'.

At first, his crownsguards were surprised that Noctis was awake at seven in the morning ("Noct awake at seven? I thought he was nocturnal from his name!"). After hearing his reason however, they weren't all that surprised. If only Noctis could put in more effort in other things as he did now, Gladio and Ignis lamented.

As Noctis made his way to the wooden pier, he waved a friendly greeting to his fellow fisherman fishing at the beaches of Galdin Quay. Navyth waved back before returning to his activity.

Noctis whipped out his rod, the best one he could get of course. The fishing rod crystallized in his hand, leaving a trail of crystal fragments as it appeared.

"It's showtime," Noctis said, his gaze sharpened at the sight of the many shadows beneath the waves.

"I think I'll play some King's Knight in the meantime," Prompto said, whipping out his phone. Experience has taught him that Noctis would take hours, if not days fishing.

"Better not, his highness will get sulky," Gladio said, smirking.

"I won't," Noctis grumbled, turning to face his friends. "Look, this will take a couple of hours, maybe even days. You guys should go chill at our room."

"What, and leave the prince all alone? Nuh-uh, not happening."

"Gladio is right, we simply can't leave the crown prince unguarded," Ignis agreed, adjusting his glasses.

Noctis shrugged and turn back to face the water. He could make out the silhouette of the fishes in the water but which one is his target? He cast his line towards a group of fishes, hoping that it would be the one he was looking for. He reeled the bait, jerking it in various directions, attracting the attention of the fishes. A fish singled out from the rest, drawing in towards the bait. With a quick snap, the fish grabbed the line and fled. The battle had begun.

It was an easy fish, much easier than the Liege of the Lake. It was also not his target. He reeled in the tired fish, grabbing it and hauling it out of the water. The Giant Trevally made a last ditch attempt to escape Noctis clutches by flailing about but it was to no avail. Noctis turned around so his friends could see his catch.

Prompto was on his phone, his attention fully on the game in his phone as he rapidly tap the screen with his fingers. Ignis and Gladio were in a deep conversation, ignoring Noctis whose hands was getting tired from holding on to the fish.

So much for leaving the crown prince unguarded.

Noctis cleared his throat to get his crownsguard attention.

"Great job Noct!" Prompto said, not even looking up from his phone.

Noctis threw the fish at Prompto who yelled at the unexpected action and opened his arms to catch the fish. He then let out a scream when the fish started flailing in his arms.

Noctis turned back to the waters while Ignis went to help Prompto. Gladio, being his unhelpful self, was laughing at Prompto's predicament.

Noctis cast off his line again, getting a bite almost immediately. He reeled in the fish after a brief battle and hauled it out of the water. Another Giant Trevally. He tossed the fish over his shoulders, not even turning around.

"Wait! Noct-mmph," Prompto cried out before the fish made contact with his face. "Ew! Ew! I think I accidentally tasted it," Prompto said, gagging as he pulled the fish away from his face before he went to screaming as the fish started flailing in his arms.

Gladio was on the ground laughing this time.

When Noctis reeled in another Giant Trevally, he threw it towards the direction where Gladio is. Gladio caught the fish by the tail with one hand, looking unimpressed. That show off.

The next fish was not a Giant Trevally, instead, it was a tiny Barrelfish.

Prompto made a noise that sounded like the sound effect of a game over screen in a game they had both played.

Noctis threw that fish at Prompto as well.

Noctis cast his line back out to the ocean at the beautiful music of Prompto's screaming as the fish flailed in his arms. It also brought a refreshing smile to his face but his friends did not need to know that.

"Noct, I understand that you are frustrated but would you kindly stop throwing your catches at Prompto?" Ignis said, taking the fish away from Prompto's hands, much to the latter's relief.

"Fineee…" Noctis sighed, rolling his eyes before focusing back at his fishing.

Noctis could make out a shadow of a large fish getting interested at his bait but it was hard to tell from the glare of the sun that had made itself known when the clouds had started dispersing. Noctis pulled the bait closer to the fish. The bait skidded across the water surface before it was swallowed up by the massive maw of the giant fish.

Noctis was jerked forward, almost falling into the seawater below. However, he held his ground and readjusted his posture to give him more balance.

"It's a big one!" Noctis cried out as he fought against the fish. That had apparently attracted the attention of his crownsguards as they had immediately stopped whatever they were doing to watch the battle.

It was also the perfect time apparently, to be an armchair fisherman. Very useless armchair fisherman.

"Turn the rod towards the fish!"

"Noct, stop reeling!"

"Ah! The line is gonna snap!"

Really useless. The shouting was also making it hard to concentrate.

"Guys, shut up! I caught the Vesper Gar so I don't need the advice now! And I can't concentrate!" Noctis snapped.

He knew he was not getting the fish this round but that was fine, the next round would be better.

His friends however, seemingly did not get the message and thus, continued yelling their (useless) advices louder than before. A brief lapse in Noctis's concentration and the line snapped, no longer able to hold out against the fish. He almost fell backwards but luckily, he managed to regain his stance.

He lamented his loss of his bait before taking out another one of the same variety. He had came prepared after all. He changed out the broken line and tied his bait to the rod. Once he was done, he looked out towards the ocean.

The sun was beginning to rise higher into the sky, already breaking past the horizon. Dawn was over and his target has gone into hiding. Noctis clicked his tongue. Now he has to wait until the next day to have a chance to get the fish, which means that he will have to get up at dawn...every day until he gets the fish...Astrals, he better catch that fish before the week is over!

* * *

 _Dawn of the following day_

Noctis was back on the pier and his friends had already picked up something to entertain themselves. Gladio was doing push ups on the ground, Ignis was reading a book and Prompto was on his phone. He hasn't even started fishing yet!

Noctis checked his line, it was a new line, one that has not yet experienced a battle in the water. The bait was already tied to the line. He still has more than ten baits to use before he runs out.

Noctis turned his attention back to the waters. The weather was cloudier than yesterday, making it easier to spot fishes without the glare of the morning sun.

He spotted his target swimming lazily on the top left side. Noctis cast his line towards it, the bait breaking the water surface with a small splash. The fish's attention was drawn and Noctis made eye contact with it. He narrowed his eyes at the fish, glaring at it. The fish stared back and did absolutely nothing.

Noctis reeled the bait back slowly and the fish swam closer to the bait. However, before his target could grab the bait, a smaller fish darted to the bait and grabbed it.

Noctis cursed loudly as he reeled up the small barrelfish.

Prompto opened his mouth to make a comment but before he could say anything, he received a fish to his face. He then proceeded to scream when the fish started flailing.

Ignis sighed and took the fish away from Prompto. Gladio just laughs.

His target had not moved from its spot so Noctis cast his line, the bait splashing into the water near the fish. The fish eyed the bait was it was reeled back sporadically. Finally deciding that it was food, the fish swallowed the bait with its huge maw and fled into the deeper waters.

"Beginner's luck?"

"Vesper Gar! I caught that, remember?" Noctis yelled out while battling against the fish.

Useless armchair fishermen looking down on his veteran fisherman status.

The fish was the kind that has too much stamina and struggled so much that it destroys the line faster than a hungry Prompto with a burger in his hands. The peanut gallery behind him were not helping him at all.

"Ease off on the reeling."

"Turn the rod towards the fish!"

"Noct! Stop reeling!"

Not. Helping. At. All.

It was a battle that lasted for many days and many night...or at least that's what Prompto claims, in reality, it only lasted for a brief three hours with Noctis swearing every minute at his friends' inability to shut up when he is fishing something important.

Upon reeling the exhausted fish, his friends had decided to make themselves useful and sprung into action to bring the fish to shore. After a brief photoshoot from Prompto, Gladio carried the fish on his back and dumped it on the ground for Ignis.

To be perfectly honest, Noctis had never watched Ignis prepare his catches before. Most of the time, he would return back to fishing after catching something. The other times, Ignis would have finished cutting up the fishes after Noctis had put his rod away.

He watched as Ignis expertly pull out a knife from the Armigar and twirl it in his hand. He crouched down and killed the fish before he deftly sliced the fish in a few quick motions and quickly placed the small slices into a small container that he had pulled out from his pocket. He put away the knife and stood up while adjusting his glasses. Noctis looked down at the fish, Ignis had only cut into one side, the other side remained untarnished.

"Wait, you're done?" Noctis asked, looking between Ignis and the fish.

"Indeed."

"What about the other side?"

"What other side?" Prompto asked, looking confused.

"The other side of the fish."

"Unfortunately, I lack the necessary skills to slice that part of the fish."

Noctis stared at Ignis after that statement. He walked towards the fish, squatted down and flipped the fish over, exposing the untouched flesh of the fish. He then stood up and gestured at the fish towards Ignis. Ignis just gives Noctis a confused look.

Noctis ended the day by throwing his rod into the ocean.


End file.
